Philosophy

Are American colleges and universities failing their students by refusing to teach the philosophical traditions of China, India, Africa, and other non-Western cultures? This biting and provocative critique of American higher education says yes. Even though we live in an increasingly multicultural world, most philosophy departments stubbornly insist that only Western philosophy is real philosophy and denigrate everything outside the European canon. In Taking Back Philosophy, Bryan W. Van Norden lambastes academic philosophy for its Eurocentrism, insularity, and complicity with nationalism and issues a ringing call to make our educational institutions live up to their cosmopolitan ideals.

David Roochnik is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, where he teaches in both the Department of Philosophy and the “Core Curriculum”, an undergraduate program in the humanities. He completed his undergraduate work at Trinity College, where he majored in philosophy and earned his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University.
Prior to taking his post in Boston, Professor Roochnik taught at Iowa State University.
Dr. Roochnik was awarded Boston University’s Gitner Award in 1997 for excellence in teaching in the College of Arts and Sciences and the 1999 Metcalf Prize for campus-wide teaching excellence…